Molly's marvelous mold

Problem Scenario

Broad Question

Specific Question

does bread type effect mold growth

Hypothesis

white bread will mold faster than organic, wheat, rye, and pita pockets.

Graph of Hypothesis

Variables

Independent Variable:

bread type

Dependent Variable:

mold growth

Variables That Need To Be Controlled:

bread type, temperature, size of bread piece, amount of light, days left out,start everything on the same day

Vocabulary List That Needs Explanation

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General Plan

I am going to test four different pieces of bread to see which one molds the fastest.

Potential Problems And Solutions

A problem would be that if one of the pieces of bread didn't mold but the rest did. The solution would be that maybe the bread was a different type than the rest, or the bread was laying in the sun or in a different climate than the rest.

Safety Or Environmental Concerns

• someone ate the molded bread.
• it could get into other food.

Experimental Design

Number Of Trials:

4

Number Of Subjects In Each trial:4

When data will be collected:Every day

Number of Observations:21

Where will data be collected?:At my house

Resources and Budget Table

Data Table

Time Line

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Background Research

Molds are a type of bacteria that is found naturally in the environment. Mold is in soil, and on dead and decaying things. Outdoors, mold play a key role in the breakdown of leaves, wood and other plant debris. Molds come in a variety of colors, including green, black, white, brown and orange. Molds can appear fuzzy or in slimy streaks. There is often a bad smell to mold.
Bread Mold is a simple fungus which derives its food from a variety of materials such as grains, fruits, vegetables or flesh. Mold spores are tiny and usually remain suspended in air. As soon as it finds the right environment for it to grow, the spores transform into the living fungus.
Food poisoning is caused by various organisms. Mold can cause illness, especially if the person is allergic to molds. Usually though, the main symptoms from eating moldy food will be upset stomach or vomiting from the badand smell of the moldy food.
Mold on grain products is the worst moldy muffins, and should be thrown out.
Also throw out the following if mold appears: Small fruits like, berries, melons and peaches; soft cheeses or yogurt; meat, peanuts, peanut butter or leftovers.
It is bad to eat moldy food even after the mold has been cut off, as surface mold is more than what you see. It actually has roots which can acces deeper into the food.

References

Ng, Deborah, and Niki Foster. "What Is Mold?" WiseGeek. Conjecture, 03 Apr. 2012. Web. 06 Apr. 2012. <http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-mold.htm>

Detailed Procedure

1. Bought Rye,Wheat,Organic,Pita Pocket, and White Bread.
2. Tike four pieces of each bread
3. Put each piece on a separate plate
4. Take a plastic bag
5. Put each piece of bread on a plate in a plastic bag
6. Set all the pieces of bread on a flat surface in the light
7. Every day for two weeks check each piece of bread to see how much mold has grown
8. If there is mold measure the area of it by taking a CM ruler and measure the width of each patch of mold if there are patches add each of the widths together, if not and all the mold is in one big patch just measure the width.

Diagram

Photo List

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Results

All Raw Data

Graphs

Photos

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Data Analysis

On the 1st day there was no mold on my bread.One the 2nd through 14th day no mold grew. On the 15th day mold grew on one piece of my rye bread on the 16th through 21st days the mold growth increased by two centimeters every other day.

Conclusion

I have answered my question because bread type does effect the mold growth.

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Discussion

For the bread that had mold the growth of the mold grew every two days.The relationship between the mold growth and bread type was relatively weak, because after three weeks mold finally grew on the bread.I was able to answer my question because the bread type does effect the growth of bread.The data was very continuous because after two days the growth of the mold increased.Since rye molded the fastest the people that buy rye bread should make sure that there isn't mold on the bread if you have it for awhile.People that buy rye bread this information would help them to know when there bread might mold.This experiment could use some improvement because I didn't remember to check the data every day but I the data was up to date.

Benefit to Community and/or Science

My project helps my community because it help the people that buy rye bread to know when it might mold so that they don't eat the bread if it has mold on it and they don't see.

Abstract

Does bread type effect mold growth on bread?I think that White bread will mold the fastest out of rye,wheat,organic,and pita pockets.Mold only grows on bread if it has a little of air flow going into a bag or where every your bread is stored. Mold can cause illness especially in people that are allergic to mold.Some symptoms of eating moldy bread are upset stomach and or vomit. In doing my experiment first I had to go and buy all the types of bread needed,then i put each piece of bread in a plastic zip lock bag,after that you have to put each piece of bread in the bag on a flat surface and then let each piece sit for three weeks.Every day check on each piece to see if any mold had grown.If mold has grown then take a ruler and measure the width of the mold patch. For the first two weeks no mold had grown on any bread.After the beginning of the third week mold finally grew on the rye.After two day the rye grew two centimeters.I have answered my question,the bread type does effect the mold growth. The mold grew two centimeters every other day.